


Bad Wolf

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Romance, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 08:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5410718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this AU, this author votes to make more sense of the Who storyline. Rose is just a human, there is no way she could've taken on the time vortex and survived when the Doctor..a timelord..couldn't do it! (WTF Moffat?) So who, if not Rose, took on the brunt of the damage? Enter the true Bad Wolf.</p><p>Give this fanfic a chance...it will not disappoint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

Bad Wolf  
Inari Hamundr  
  
  
Oh Doctor, you know nothing is ever simple. You always question everything, but somehow this has managed to elude you. A few hundred years ago, you were in the far future..aboard a satellite watching the sun scorch the Earth...with the last Human of certain lineage; Rose Tyler. She criticized Cassandra for throwing away her body in favour of an imperfect “perfection”; and you realised that it was her that caused the deaths of many that terrible day, and all for a little money. You knew there was something wrong with the future, even before you left.  
  
The next time you visited the satellite, it was a lot closer to Rose’s time...and yet so far. She brought with her a man you knew would cause trouble..and you still let him have a chance. You knew that the technology was behind..but not sure why. You started to notice my name. You uncovered Satellite 5’s master...but you were unaware that the master was but a slave.  
  
One hundred years after the previous events, you were trapped in a game of death...or so you thought. You’ve always been one to assume once you found a theory that fit...but death was not upon them just yet. Rose and Jack were there with you...perhaps to help...perhaps to add motivation. You uncovered all that was behind the veil...what horror was truly in control, stunting humanity. Dalek.   
  
You send Rose back through time..to keep your promise to her mother..to keep her safe. She never was one to listen though...and it didn’t help that she was in love with you. She looked into the time vortex...and absorbed it...and she changed.  
  
A brave and foolish human, she did it all on her own...once she realised my name was spread through time...leading her back to you. What you failed to realise..is she was supposed to die the moment she took on the golden glow. No one is meant to absorb the vortex...you said it yourself. You, a Time Lord, could only survive for a moment. Yet, you failed to realise that she, a human who is biologically inferior to a Timelord by far, survived for eight Earth minutes.  
  
And you never realised….  
  
My name acted as a warning as well...when all of the stars died...or were never born...My name..Bad Wolf..was laced through time and space..  
  
Rose was calling your name across the universes...and you didn’t hear her until it was too late...but a human cannot reach out like that...They never could.  
  
You saw the warning signs...You knew what Bad Wolf was….You knew my name...but not who I was...or what my purpose was...You didn’t know why it was laced through time...but I did...and now so do you; but you still don’t know the catalyst. You still think it is her..  
  
Rose.


	2. Parting of the Ways

Chapter One  
The Parting of the Ways..  
  
  
I knew the time was coming..  
Coming…  
Soon….yet…  
Not.  
It had already happened...but…  
It hadn’t…  
Not Yet.  
  
I reached out through the shining dark...and touched the minds of humans…  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
A mistranslation really..but it served my purposes..  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
My fingers first touched a Man of Balhoon...I knew you would be there that day…  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
Gwyneth...and the darkness within a Rose.  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
A little human...and the light of white…rumours unceasing..Flashing lights and the scent of Musk..Little Red says to the eldest Other...A word meant to be dropped..  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
Nuclear plans written in Welsh…  
That is when you started to hear me...But you dismissed the sound as noise..  
So I reached out further..  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
In the mind of a mouse..A Dangerous livid Lupis...knocking at the door..And you staggered in like...  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
Surreptitious and hidden from those without eyes to see...lined upon the minds and speech...You compared to Me...by Masters of Clockwork and Clockwork creatures Mastered.  
  
~Bad Wolf~  
  
I’m tired..drained..exhausted from spreading my name..but I reach out once more...Rose has taken on the Vortex...I lead her with a guarded hand...She opens the doors to you...You…  
  
“What have you done?!”   
  
I hear you scream to her...but I’m inside of her head...I can hear..and I can speak..but first..I’ll let her..for it is her voice.  
  
“I looked into the TARDIS. And the TARDIS looked into me.”  
  
I can feel her shuddering...she is in such pain..And I feel you...hurting...you love her..and still do..  
  
“You looked into the Time Vortex. Rose, no one’s meant to see that.”  
  
I try to speak..try to explain that I am protecting her...and you...even though I’m so far away..  
  
“I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space…”  
  
..but Rose is stubborn and strong...she fights me for control...and so the words come out wrong.  
  
“..A message to lead myself here.”  
  
I meant to say the message’s purpose..but Rose is strong and interrupts me before I can finish..And I feel...you..being crushed...your hearts have slowed...you cannot believe what you see…  
  
“Rose, you’ve got to stop this! You’ve got to stop this now! You’ve got the entire vortex running through your head. You’re gonna burn.”  
  
And so we speak as one..  
  
“I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god.”  
  
In a voice monotone the false one speaks..  
  
“You cannot hurt me. I am immortal.”  
  
And so I speak to the false one.  
  
“You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence. And I divide them. Everything must come to death. All things. Everything dies. The Time War ends.”  
  
We are safe..and so I leave Rose to speak for herself. But, she saw what I did from her body using the power of the Time Vortex and my knowledge...she saw that Jack sacrificed himself fearlessly...and idiotically...and so she did the most human thing ever..  
  
And brought him back to life.  
  
But she was just a human..and didn’t know how to create life..it was her first time...so she made him immune to Death in the process..and..she turns to you..crying..she has taken all that she can bare...even with me taking most of the damage...I couldn’t just let her take the punishment alone..she would have perished instantaneously…  
  
“I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be.”  
  
“That’s what I see. All the time. And doesn’t it drive you mad?”  
  
“My head-”  
  
“Come here..”  
  
“-is killing me.”  
  
“I think you need a doctor.”  
  
I leave her mind as you absorb the Time Vortex and gift it back to the TARDIS...my work is done for now...You have survived...and so have the ones you love…  
  
But I feel myself weakening...Now I’m the one shuddering...And I...I..  
I…  
  
Embrace the darkness.


	3. Comatose

Comatose  
  
I’m floating...but my body is on fire…  
  
And my mind…  
  
Burning like Ice..  
  
And my soul..  
  
Is free…  
  
As my body..  
  
Heals itself…  
  
  
I don’t need to regenerate because my body sustained no physical damage...but I need to sleep for a while...so my mind doesn't ache..like the way it does now..  
  
At least you’re safe...for now…  
  
I need you to stay around...We All Do.  
  
  
  
You are the universe’s Doctor.  
  
~oOo~  
  
My eyes open...and my hearts begin to beat once more...I catch my breath..And I notice that they have bathed me. My black hair hangs down in front of my face...I’m looking down at my feet...My hair is still dripping water onto my toes..  
  
“Hey..You! What were you doing?”  
  
I look up with my eyes and look through the spaces in between my strands of hair...A human...male...in a hazard suit made of white fabric...He smells like false dominance and fear. He doesn't know me..but he is smart to be scared. Fear is a superpower.  
  
“I asked...What were you Doing? We know you've been active...your body ceased function...but your brain waves were off the charts!”  
  
My arms ache...and my toes and neck aren't far behind...I've been in this humiliating position for months now…  
  
“Answer me!!”  
  
Hah. He thinks he can intimidate me...they've done all they can do to me...and I've survived so far...I will not give in...I know this will end..One   
day.  
  
“Fine! Don’t answer, don’t eat!”  
  
My ribs are starting to show...but that’s fine..I haven’t eaten in a year..These humans know nothing about me...or You.  
  
“Speak damn you!!”  
  
I haven’t said a word in ten years...they’ve tried every method to get me to talk...but the only thing they want...is You. Haha… When I’m finally free from this place..will you heal me Doctor?   
  
“What are you laughing at?”  
  
Shit. I didn’t mean to laugh out loud...I’m surprised my vocal cords still work..  
  
“You think this is funny? This isn’t funny you dumb bitch!”  
  
The male strides up to me and strikes me. His suit’s jagged material cuts my cheek...and my blood splatters on the ground. Damn..yet another way to find you...  
  
“You have been silent for TEN FUCKING YEARS and the first thing you do is Laugh?! ..wait.. is that yours? It is orange! Why is your blood orange? I’ve got to get this to the lab..”


	4. Rose

Rose  
  
  
Though you gave her more credit than warranted, she was still an amazing companion. She was clever, stubborn, and she loved you...which made for an unstoppable woman. I did not like using her as a mere tool; you loved her and I wanted to respect your love and her dedication. I just couldn’t help you on my own. I needed to help you. I needed to keep you   
alive.  
  
You will wonder when I finally get the chance to tell you, “Why wait so long to interfere?” It wasn’t my plan to be sure. I was unable to link with you...or anything around you...until it was years...months...and eventually weeks from when the events happened to you. I just couldn’t. I tried so very hard...for hundreds of years...to connect...to warn...to protect.  
  
Until you regenerated for the ninth time...I couldn’t. The moment you regenerated into your new body...something shifted...perhaps it was meant to be that I couldn’t interfere until it was time to. We may never know. I was unsure how to help...until a voice told me...a voice..familiar...and…  
  
And I knew. I knew how to help. I helped the same way that billions of species support each other and tell them they are loved and protected...Poetry.   
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
When I was a little girl, my mother would sing me to sleep. My favorite song was about a prophecy...one that the Visionary herself foretold.   
  
  
Beauty’s bride holds the rain  
Suns fall and rise again  
Oh dear love  
Oh dear fate  
Words can change what they mean  
Describing the most feared thing  
Remember the wolf travels by night  
And the Oncoming Storm is her bride  
Watch the wood for the Wolf  
Once you see her you’ll be upon   
The Storm  
  
  
My mother would often chide me for pretending to be the Wolf in the poem...She said that the High Council was watching for a Time Lord who matched the prophecy..so they would be able to stop the imminent destruction before it happened. My mother said whoever takes the mantle of the Wolf or the Oncoming Storm would be doomed to die. She warned me to never pretend to be the Wolf of that poem..for my own safety..  
  
My mother’s name was Maren. She left me when I was only five years old...I never knew where she went...she only told me that she ran away for my own protection...and because she was needed more someplace else. She left me to be raised by my father until I was eight, when I was taken to begin my instruction at the Time Academy, to start on my path to becoming a Time Lord.  
I stood alongside the fellow initiates...as we were herded around the Untempered Schism. When it was my turn to gaze into the Vortex...I was scared. Some children went mad, others were inspired, and others ran in fear...and I was so sure I would be a child that ran...but I wasn't. When I stood in front of the Untempered Schism...it was...painful...very painful. It ate at my emotions...my body...and my soul...I was sure that I was going to die. I screamed in agony and writhed under the weight of the knowledge pushed onto me. I cried. It hurt. It really really hurt.  
  
I saw a scorched Gallifrey. Children dying in their mothers’ arms. Rovies that children kept as pets scurrying away in fear from their little caretakers...as they screamed from the pain of death. Homes burning...and...my mother’s death. I saw how she died before it happened.  
  
But then...suddenly the pain went away...and I was left with the feeling you get when you put a fresh burn into cool water...and I saw...You. The Doctor. And that is when I knew my purpose.  
  
My days as a student within the Time Academy were otherwise uneventful. Along with the normal regimen of Advanced Maths and Sciences and Language classes, I took some extracurricular classes as well...just for fun. Happy Primes, Biology, Earth Languages (We had an interest in Humanity as they were biologically similar to us.), and art classes. I lived with the other students...so there was lots of teasing...and games. I loved the game Sepulchasm...it was a board game where one would have to practice their powers of telepathy...a particular game that the headmaster heavily endorsed. But as children, there were a few...games...that were heavily discouraged. It was a typical rite of passage during the time I attended for a 100 year old child to be pushed into doing by his or her peers. It was called Eighth Man Bound. This “game” was responsible for up to fifteen students’ deaths each semester.   
  
I was too forced through this “initiation rite.” I, the “Initiate” sat in the centre of a circle formed by my Prydonian classmates..or “Inquiry.” The “Inquiry” repeated my name until it became meaningless...and in time, the identity crisis caused me, like many before me, to remain in flux between regenerations..which allowed me to see glimpses of my future selves. I saw eight women...but the Ninth seemed to elude me...but of course I could never tell my peers that...for the record was only seven. I simply told them I only saw my next life.  
  
~oOo~  
  
Eighth man bound  
Make no sound  
The shroud covers all  
The Long and the Short  
And the Old and the Loud  
And the Young and the Dark  
And the Tall  
  
~oOo~  
  
When Rose was left in a parallel universe, she was devastated...she had just lost the man she loved...without even saying ‘Goodbye’.   
The Doctor was a wreck; he searched day and night for some way...any way to even say three little words, one last time.   
  
Rose searched for a way back to the Doctor...but couldn’t on her own. So I helped them find their way back together...even if it was only for a few minutes...it was the least I could do. So I spread my name across the universe once more...tying the two together again. I laid my name upon a beach outside Bergen, Norway. I lead Rose to the beach by dreams and whispers...the last place where the universes still touched. Dårlig Ulv Stranden; The poor wolf beach.  
  
The Doctor took his TARDIS to a dying star and used its energy to finally say goodbye.  
  
But it wasn’t goodbye.  
  
I helped to protect Rose from damage from using the Trans-Dimensional Cannon. She finally got to see the Doctor..and helped the Most Important Woman in the World. Rose got to have the Doctor back in her life by the end, in the form of his Human-Time Lord meta-crisis...and the Doctor finally had closure. In the loss of Rose, he got a Song.


	5. Og Enda Jeg Bor... (And Yet I Live)

Og enda jeg bor... (And yet I live..)  
  
  
I open my eyes for the first time in what feels like a week. (I have been busy what with the events recently…) My eyes are sensitive to the harsh light at first...and I can feel my body begging for water. This time I am dry...maybe they washed me yesterday...I don’t know. Telepathy through time and space requires all of my attention..I cannot waste precious grey matter to paying attention to what these creeps are doing to me next. It is probably better that way.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Oh great..another stupid ape..  
  
“Look, I know you’re awake...I’m here to tell you that you have an hour before they move you off planet...I've set up a space where you can eat, drink, take care of yourself in any way...I’ll release you in a moment. The doors are psychically sealed so it is impossible to break out...and if you try you’ll only end up causing yourself misery.”  
  
Promises, promises.   
  
The ape was telling the truth...He let me out for an hour exactly. I was rather apprehensive about the sudden change in attitude from them...and I even checked the food and water for toxins...and they turned up clean.  
  
I have never appreciated shitty astronaut food more than I have now.  
  
Once the hour was up, I was taken in chains to my new prison…On a planet I’ve been imprisoned on before...Earth.  
  
~oOo~  
  
Earth was on the far side of the sun, so the trip from Mars took several hours. Haha, these humans are far from colonizing the universe, let alone this Galaxy. It is amazing that they will do that in the future..and yet they’re still here using Petrol to power their star-craft.   
  
However, life isn't without a sense of irony. We have just arrived at the top of my new prison...in Norway...outside of Bergen...near the poor wolf beach. Either these humans are finally catching on...or fate is laughing at me. Everyone here is speaking Norwegian...no English. Good thing I’ve been here before...or I’d be lost.  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
Three thousand years ago, in Earth years, I was imprisoned here on Earth. The Visionary saw who the great Wolf in the poem was...and the council wanted to avert the end of Gallifrey. They thought if they could rid of the Wolf and the Oncoming Storm that they would succeed. Now that they knew who the Wolf was...they could use her to find the Oncoming Storm. They tortured me in various ways trying to sus out the information they needed...but I knew nothing. After a few decades they decided that it was useless to continue to sustain me on their own resources, but decided that I may prove useful later on...so they brought me to Earth..where I could be imprisoned without a chance of escape...as the humans were new to the universe and only had sticks and stones.   
  
Three Time Lords brought me to Earth, and presented me to the smartest of the Humans at the time...the Northern Folk. They told the humans that I needed to be kept locked up and if I were to escape that the end of the world would come. Those humans named me. I remember my old name..my true name...but this was the only name that fit me at the time...Fenris...Fenrir...the big bad wolf.   
  
And now I was back.  
  
~oOo~  
  
They string me up using the strongest metal alloy they had...they strung me so I could sit on my knees or on my arse...but my ankles and wrists were tied to the cement floor of my prison. In my old prison, they strung me up by the wrists so high that I had to balance on the balls of my feet. I wasn’t the only inmate here; the Norwegians do not waste space or resources...only the worst criminals are held here...and I am held on the lowest floor. They feed me, and give me water. They bathe me and switch out my clothes...but not without several rifles pointed at my skull. At least they actually take care of me though...unlike on Mars.


	6. Serendipity

Serendipity  
  
  
Clara turns to her apartment’s door, as she hears the TARDIS begin to materialise. The Doctor snaps his fingers and the TARDIS doors open, he gives Clara a huge smile.  
  
“What is it Doctor?”  
  
“What is what?”  
  
“You never smile like that..”  
  
“Who says that I don’t?”  
  
The Doctor spins around and walks towards the TARDIS control console. Clara sighs as she realises that he isn’t going to tell her what is going on. She strides into the TARDIS, but notices that all of the Doctor’s blackboards are filled with Gallifreyan text and devoid of his usual math calculations. Clara takes in a deep breath and prepares for the Doctor to shut down her attempts to understand...well, him.  
  
“Doctor, what have you been researching?”  
  
“Hmm? Oh nothing..so where would you like to go? I could take you to Arcopolis..or Arcadia! That’s what it is called..it is a human colony in the 26th century and..”  
  
“Doctor…”  
  
“What? I was talking!”  
  
“No, you were avoiding my question.”  
  
“Yes, but I was talking.”  
  
“Doctor, please tell me…”  
  
“Tell you what? Oh, I know..I’ll take you to Xaos! It is said to have been the place where all life in this Galaxy originated..”  
  
Clara sighed and gave up her pursuit.  
  
“That sounds like a good place to visit..let’s go then.”  
  
Clara could’ve sworn that she saw the Doctor relax a little.  
  
“Okay good.”  
  
And with that, the Doctor took off running around the TARDIS console, flipping switches and triggering buttons, while Clara takes a seat in a grey chair and crosses one leg over the other. Once the Doctor has finished putting in the data the TARDIS requires to lock on, he glances at Clara and flashes a smile before pulling a final lever. The TARDIS hums as she takes off, spinning her dials and moving her green cylinders. Then, she starts to shudder and shake...as she is seemingly fighting off her intended destination.  
  
“Doctor, what’s happening?!”  
  
“Shut up, Clara! I can’t think with you blabbing!”  
  
The TARDIS groans and wheezes as she continues fighting the Doctor for control. Then suddenly, she stops. Clara practically leaps from her seat to look at the TARDIS monitors to gauge where they are..somehow...but the Doctor gently shoves her away from the console.  
  
“Doctor, what..”  
  
“Shh..”  
  
The Doctor is visibly irritated, so Clara decides to back off for now. He continues to muck around with the monitors trying to figure out what went wrong.  
  
“Doctor, maybe the TARDIS brought us somewhere else for a reason...maybe we’re supposed to be here..”  
  
The Doctor spins to face Clara, eyes wide.  
  
“But why would the TARDIS choose HERE of all places?!”  
  
“Where is here?”  
  
“The place where I lost her.”  
  
The Doctor’s voice cracked on the word ‘her.’ Clara knew she ought not to pry but she needed to know so she could help him.  
  
“Doctor,” She began cautiously, “I know you’d rather not talk about it...but who are you talking about?”  
  
The Doctor’s eyes reddened as he slouched down into the nearest grey chair.  
  
“Her name was Rose Tyler. I lost her because I was a fool. She and I were saving Earth from an invasion of Daleks and Cybermen...she was such an asset during that time. The barriers between two parallel universes were lowered...Everything that could go wrong that day...did.”  
  
The Doctor pressed his palms to his face and looked at his feet.  
  
“In the end, we were sucking the Daleks and Cybermen into the void space..using a rift between the parallel worlds...but Rose lost her grip in an attempt to keep the process going. Her father, from the parallel world where he wasn’t dead, saved her when I couldn’t. He brought her into the parallel world to save her from being sucked into the void. She tried several times to cross back over...to come back to me. She couldn’t though..She belonged with her family on the other side. At our final goodbye I sent a meta-crisis me to be with her in that other universe.”  
  
The Doctor sat up and looked at Clara with the most composed face he could provide.  
  
“The TARDIS landed here...at the place where we said goodbye..for the last time..the place where I lost her..for good.”  
  
Clara just stood in shock from the Doctor revealing something so personal...and sad. She carefully considered what to say to console him...but decided it was best not to meddle.  
  
“Doctor, I’m sorry...Why would the TARDIS bring you here if it is such a bad memory?”  
  
The Doctor sighed, then stiffened up.   
  
“The TARDIS has always brought me where I needed to be...and I don’t think this time is any different..but I dread to find what lies outside those doors..” He sat up and glanced slowly over to the exit, then back to his feet.  
  
“Doctor, if you wish...I can leave you to face this alone..or I can stand with you and be there if you need me...the choice is up to you...either way, I think that you shouldn’t avoid this.”  
  
The Doctor sighed and looked up at Clara with wary eyes. “You’re right, Clara; I shouldn’t…. Thank you, Clara.”  
  
“For what?”  
  
“You know.” He paused and looked down, then glanced up at her again. “Clara, we don’t know what is outside those doors..and since this place has a record of being...Why don’t you stay inside the TARDIS until I get back...this is something I think I need to do alone.”  
  
Clara nods at him in agreement, so the Doctor whips around and strides to the TARDIS doors with a thin veil of confidence.   
  
~oOo~  
  
The Doctor looks around in near shock as he notices the nearly pure white concrete hallway surrounding him instead of his dreaded beach. He scans the area with his sonic screwdriver then flips it open to reveal the data that it has obtained.  
  
Earth, Norway...near Bergen..Dårlig Ulv Stranden..late 21 century..  
  
The Doctor glances around quickly, then furrows his eyebrows. ‘Why would the TARDIS have brought me here...of all places?’ Then, he notices something..something he hasn’t felt in a long time...a presence…  
  
‘Too soon to guess that,’ he chides himself. He knows that there is no possible way. Still, he takes a breath then marches down the hall where he felt something calling him. As he briskly walks along the path leading him to whatever lies at the end of it, he scans the area for life forms and avoids them, there is no time for distractions now. Doors pass sporadically as he nears his destination. Finally, the Doctor reaches a large iron door locked electronically. ‘Pudding brains, they hide something so precious, that even I know where to find it, behind an electronic door? They’re practically inviting visitors...they should hang a sign.’ He quickly sonics the lock and braces himself for whatever it is he is about to find before opening the door.  
  
*Ting*  
  
The Doctor drops his sonic screwdriver, as he is stiff with shock, and grief, from what he sees tied to the floor by metal chains. Once he shakes himself from his sudden shock, he races quickly over to the woman squatting on the floor. She looks up at him, and into his eyes...then she starts to cry. The Doctor has millions of questions racing through his mind, but now he quiets them, and kneels down to the woman’s level, then wipes the tears from her face with his thumbs..and finds himself whispering softly to her..  
  
“It’s over. I’m here.”  
  
He cannot believe he has just said that to her, a stranger, when he doesn’t even touch Clara...but something about this woman...is so...familiar...and comforting..and all of that tension built up within him just melts away.  
  
“Doctor..you’ve finally come.”  
  
“How do you know my name?”  
  
“I’ve known your name since I was eight..when I first gazed into the Untempered Schism.”   
  
The Doctor’s hearts skipped a few beats when she said those words..then he started to cry. The woman instinctively reached out to touch him...hold him...but her chains stopped her and rattled with her protests. The Doctor wiped his eyes then raced over to his sonic screwdriver on the floor. He closed the door to her cell, then locked it with a new password. He walked back over to her, and soniced her chains off of her. Once she was free, she hugged him tightly..the Doctor was tense at first but relaxed under her embrace.   
  
“Now that you’re free, let’s get you to my TARDIS where we can talk, okay?”  
  
The woman smiled for what seemed the first in hundreds of years and said, “Okay.”  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
The woman collapsed once she reached the inside of the TARDIS, with the Doctor only slowing her fall.  
  
“Clara!!”  
  
Clara came running from a hall leading deeper into the TARDIS and paused a moment in shock before running up to help the Doctor. They carried the woman into a bedroom the TARDIS had prepared for her. Once the Doctor had treated her in what ways he knew how, he and Clara sat around the woman’s bed, decorated with a blue bedspread with golden gallifreyan characters written on it.   
  
“Doctor...who is she?”  
  
“I don’t know, Clara.”  
  
“Then why are you so worried about her?”  
  
The Doctor tilted his head and put a quizzical look on his face before answering Clara.  
  
“I don’t know.”  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
The woman stirred in her slumber before sitting up slowly to look at the two perched on her bed staring at her.   
  
“Hello,” said a brunette with a sweet smile, “I’m Clara...I’m the Doctor’s...carer.” Clara paused then laughed, “I care so he doesn’t-”  
  
“Clara!” scolded a harsh looking man with ice blue eyes. He looked back over at the woman. “I am the Doctor..what is your name?”  
  
The woman tilted her head in a bird like manner and chewed her lip, before her eyes brightened with the answer. “My name is one that the humans gifted me with long ago...but I do believe I need a new name now...my name is Fenris.”  
  
“Fenris? You mean Fenrir? From the Norwegian Sagas right?” asked Clara. “I thought Fenrir was a wolf...not a human girl...but how have you lived so long? Are you a time traveler?” Clara glanced over to the Doctor, but found that he was staring intensely at Fenris.  
  
“No. Fenris is my name..and yeah..I guess..Though I don’t really know what you’re talking about..” Fenris giggled, “And I am not a human..and I haven’t traveled...not really anyway..”  
  
“What are you then?” Clara asked.  
  
“A Time Lord, Clara,” the Doctor said, “She is a Time Lord...though in this case is it better to call you a Time Lady?” the Doctor asked turning back to Fenris.  
  
“Well, Time Lord is fine..” Fenris paused and tilted her head again as she thought..then snapped back to looking at the Doctor..”but Time Lady is acceptable if you choose.”  
  
“A Time Lord…” Clara considered to herself...then looked up at the Doctor. “Doctor, I’m going to get our guest something to eat..why don’t you stay here and look after her until I get back?”  
  
The Doctor turned to Clara and nodded, understanding that she was giving them time alone to talk, before turning back to Fenris. Once the door shut behind Clara, the Doctor asked, “Fenris, I wish to know all that you’ll tell me.”  
  
Fenris smiled and nodded, then beckoned the Doctor to get nearer to her. They pressed their foreheads together while their forefingers rested on each other’s temples. The Doctor felt a mental ‘knock’ and answered Fenris’ call. He felt the inside of her mind, warm and bright as a star but laced with melancholy from all that she had been through; and she felt the inside of his mind, a cold and calculating blanket concealing an orb of blinding passion and love for those he had chosen to protect. He felt her pushing towards him images of her childhood, her days at the Time Academy, her playing Eighth Man Bound and seeing previews of nine of her future regenerations...Each one of her regenerations as they happened...she was on her Seventh. He felt her trial by the Council of Timelords...and her sentence to live eternity in Human custody..and all that she had been put through during her time in prison...for nothing. She had done nothing. She wasn’t guilty...she was just locked away because of some stupid prophecy!  
  
Fenris could feel the Doctor’s rage on her behalf..so she send next her days as the Bad Wolf. The Doctor tensed up, and began to cry. They broke their telekinetic bond as they released each other’s touch...and Fenris wiped the Doctor’s tears away with her thumbs, mocking what he had done for her a few hours ago in her cell. The Doctor relaxed a little and folded Fenris’ hands into his own, and he looked into her eyes.  
  
“Thank you.”


	7. Dance with me

Dance with Me  
  
  
I woke up to the sound of my bedroom door opening. The Doctor was standing in the doorway leaning his body against the frame.  
  
“Good morning.”  
  
I smiled at him, “Good morning.” We have spent a few weeks together..the Doctor, Clara, and I..just seeing the universe together..learning.  
  
“I don’t much like sitting around doing nothing..it makes my bones   
ache.”  
  
“Haha! Are you suggesting we go somewhere?”  
  
“Perhaps…”  
  
“And is Clara going with us?”  
  
The Doctor looked away from me and looked down at his feet, concealing his face in the shadow of the open door. “No, she said she wanted to take a break from traveling for a while..”  
  
“So it is just us then?”  
  
“I suppose so.”  
  
I couldn’t help but giggle, “So two Time Lords and a TARDIS...the whole of time and space awaiting us..and you’re just standing there hiding your face.” With that, he looked up quickly with a beet red face.  
  
“I am not hiding anything. I’ll be in the control room,” and with that, the Doctor quickly left the room.  
  
I felt myself blushing too...but I knew I had to get a move on..big day and all..So, I made my bed and took care of myself...and put on makeup for the first time in...centuries. When I walked back out into my room from the ensuite, I noticed that an outfit had already been prepared for me..a men’s grey button up shirt, a blue pair of cutoffs, and the Doctor’s old converse from his 10th regeneration. Only the TARDIS would have done something so...personal. I quickly thanked her and donned my attire and threw my hair into a long messy braid that stopped short only a few inches past my neck and let the rest hang free.  
  
Once I entered the TARDIS console room, the Doctor glanced at me then went back to polishing the console with a handkerchief...then he quickly glanced again with wide eyes.  
  
“You’re wearing my old clothes..” he said to himself..then turned and hid his face again. I looked down at the clothes I was wearing and assessed them. I walked over to the console where the Doctor was standing.  
  
“Are you okay with that?”  
  
“What?” He glanced up, then remembered that he was trying to hide his face. “You can wear what you want to…”   
  
I smiled to myself, then asked, “So, where are we going to visit today?”  
  
He considered to himself briefly, then said, “I don’t know...where would you like to visit?”  
  
“Mmhm….I think that we ought to let the TARDIS choose...since it was her that brought us together.”  
  
And with that, the Doctor turns redder than the lining of his jacket.   
  
~oOo~  
  
The TARDIS brought us to a park in a city late at night. Two moons lie overhead, and a Jazz band is playing soft music from Earth’s early 20th century. I turn to the Doctor, smile, and ask him what song is being played. I can see his face get redder still, even in the dim light. He turns and says, “It’s by Glenn Miller, he was a fantastic musician…”  
  
“Doctor, I asked what the name of the song is...not who wrote it...come now..”  
  
The Doctor mumbles, “In the Mood…”  
  
I have to stop myself from laughing at the Doctor’s bashfulness...but I decide that it is rather appealing...and entertaining..  
  
“Doctor,”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Will you dance with me?” The Doctor quickly glances at me to check if I’m serious, then glances away to hide his face once he sees that I am.  
  
“Well, I don’t think I remem-”  
  
“Doctor, as long as you don’t step on my feet you’ll be fine.” I smile at him then grab him by the hand to where other people are dancing. I spin him around to face me, and he places his left hand on my hip. He tries to look anywhere but at me, but he fails to keep it up for long. Soon, he is smiling at me, spinning me around, and dipping me. Who's the loving daddy with the beautiful eyes; What a pair o' shoes, I'd like to try 'em for size.. I cannot help but to smile at him, and him at me. I'll just tell him, "Baby, won't you swing it with me"; Hope he tells me maybe, what a wing it will be.. He spins me around with my back to him, and he puts his hands on my hips and looks down at me with a smile. So, I said politely "Darling may I intrude"; He said "Don't keep me waiting when I'm in the mood"..He spins me back around to face him and takes my right hand into his..First I held him lightly and we started to dance; Then I held him tightly what a dreamy romance..then I feel him pulling me closer..And I said "Hey, baby, it's a quarter to three; It's a mess of moonlight, won't you share it with me"..then he spins me once more.."Well" he answered "Baby, don't you know that it's rude; To keep my two lips waiting when they're in the mood"..and we stop as the song ends facing each other with his hands on my hips and my hands on his shoulders. He reaches up to brush my hair out of my face, and gently pulls me in by the jaw...then we kiss. It is just a simple kiss..but it signified so much more..what was to come..  
  
~oOo~  
  
I find myself waking up a few hours later, to the same view I saw yesterday morning, the Doctor standing in the doorway waiting for me to wake. I sat up and realised that I was wearing the same clothes I was wearing yesterday..the Doctor’s old grey button down and the blue cutoffs..I must have been too tired to change..or maybe this face just doesn’t care.  
  
“Good morning.”  
  
I smile at him, remembering the day before. “Good morning, Doctor.”   
  
“My bones are aching…”  
  
“Then we had better go somewhere then.”  
  
“Clever girl,” he says with a smirk. “Hurry up now I don’t much like waiting.” Then he turns on his heel and heads towards the TARDIS console room.  
  
I stand up and care for my room and for myself and find another outfit laying on the bed once I have exited the ensuite..but this time it was a little different. This time a men’s large leather coat was draped over the bed, along with a light grey v-neck, black shorts, and the Converse from yesterday. Once I am dressed, I race up to the console room. The Doctor is back at polishing the TARDIS with a handkerchief, I noticed he has a nervous habit of doing that. The Doctor spins around once he hears my feet on the landing.  
  
“That's not what you're wearing, is it?”  
  
I quickly assessed myself, and wondered if he had a problem with it.   
“Well, I am wearing it..You can see it, I’m standing in front of you.”  
  
"Well, that hasn’t been in style for a few hundred years.”  
  
“What do you mean, Doctor? Whatever you decide to wear is suddenly in vogue? Because I distinctly remember a few times…”  
  
I couldn’t help but giggle at his “attack eyebrows” glowering at me.  
  
“There is nothing wrong with what I'm wearing now, and it's certainly better than what I have chosen to wear before.”   
  
“Which time?” I quipped. “Because if you mean when you were on your sixth body, I would have to agree.”  
  
His mouth twitched. “No. No striped lemon-yellow pants, no patchwork jacket, no floppy, polka-dotted bowtie… No bowtie at all, actually.”  
  
I so had to grin at that, “You used to say that bowties were cool.” He shuddered and wore disgust on his face.   
  
“What on Earth could I have been thinking?”  
  
“Well, I thought you looked handsome in your bowtie...and I think that you are just making fun of me to hide your flattery.”   
  
He quirked his head at me, and grinned widely.  
  
“What are you on about now?”  
  
“I said, you’re hiding your flattery with grandeur and wit.”  
  
The foolish man turned away and hid his face in shadow, and began walk around the console, slowly flipping a switch here and pressing a button there to program in the coordinates to their next destination. Then he abruptly paused, then turned to Fenris.  
  
“I think I’ll set it on random.”  
  
Oh no. “Doctor, are you sure that is a good idea? I mean, every time you have done that things have gone rotten.”  
  
“Not every time,” the Doctor said with a sheepish groan.  
  
“How about I pick where we go.” He looked at me sidelong with near shock gracing his face.  
  
“Do you even know how to fly the TARDIS?”  
  
I simply laughed. “See for yourself.”  
  
~oOo~  
  
And with that she took off around the console, pressing buttons and flipping switches with near expert precision. The TARDIS began to make its familiar groans and wheezes, but then began to shake violently, as if it was fighting Fenris for control.  
  
“What are you doing?!” I had to shout over the deafening noise.  
  
“Just, trust me for a moment will you?!”  
  
The TARDIS only managed to fight her for a brief few moments later, but then she was able to maneuver it and regain control like a true Time Lord.  
  
“What was that all about?”  
  
“Not done..yet..”  
  
Indeed the TARDIS was still within the vortex, shuddering only slightly. I couldn’t help but to admire her skill, and wonder how she remembered how to fly a type-40 TARDIS after spending over two thousand years in chains. It wasn’t long until the TARDIS made her familiar thudding sound as they landed...but..no. It couldn’t have...for a split second the TARDIS sang out in protest, but she was hushed by a force psychically stronger than her.  
  
“Ready?” Fenris turned to me and grinned broadly.  
  
“What was all that trouble for?”  
  
“Oh, nothin. She didn’t like when I started to steer her here..but she saw the logic behind what I was doing,” she turned to the console and patted it once, “Didn’t you?”  
  
“Why wouldn’t she..”  
  
“Oh come on, live a little. Go and see what lies outside those doors.” I could feel my hearts skip a beat. Whatever could...oh..nevermind. Best not to…  
  
“Come now, Doctor. You’re the Oncoming Storm for goodness sake. Come on.” And with that she stormed off down the ramp and out through the TARDIS doors.  
  
~oOo~  
  
I really was quite pleased with myself..the TARDIS was fighting me hard for control, but I maneuvered through a few timestreams and found a way to pass through the Timelock. The Doctor should give me more credit. I spun around at the sound of the TARDIS doors creaking shut behind me, and saw the Doctor absolutely dumbfounded.  
  
“How..”  
  
“Oh, I just maneuvered through a few timestreams. No paradoxes..no regrets. Just hide the TARDIS and we will be fine. Put her slightly out of sync Doctor.”  
  
I really have outdone myself this time.  
  
“Where are we, Fenris?”  
  
“I have taken us to my family’s old house, in the country by the river Lethe..as you can see over there..No one is home. I brought us to when my family was gone for a few weeks to the Capitol to do some political excursion..I was too young to understand really at the time. But, nobody's home, and we have the place to ourselves..to spend a week here..without foul.”  
  
The Doctor turned to me with the saddest face and said, “Thank you.”


	8. A New Song

A New Song  
  
  
Fenris. Her story reminds me much of River Song, and her time in my life. Fenris has known about me, and had a role to protect me, since she was eight. Yet, the first time she met me in person, and I her, was only few weeks ago.   
  
River. She knew and loved me before I even knew who she was. I married her, even though I wasn’t in love with her. I felt like I owed her..so much. River had protected me and guided me, without my knowledge. She lead me to the right path, and gave her life...all of her lives..just to keep me safe. Why? I am not a good man. I am just a mad man with a screwdriver and a box.  
  
So why did River give her entire life to protecting me? Why has Fenris watched over me..without even meeting me. Do I love these women, or just feel like I owe them?  
  
And Fenris...she has done the impossible. She has taken us home. I’m sleeping in her parents’ old bed, with the crimson silken sheets keeping me warm as I think of these women. They have done so much for me. I don’t think I could ever repay them.   
  
But, Fenris is here. She is alive and with me. I can repay her deeds with my own. She has spent over two thousand years watching over me. The least I can do is spend a week here, doing what she wishes to do.  
  
~oOo~  
  
I found myself asleep shortly after those thoughts made way in my mind, but was awoken by Fenris leaning in the door jam with a wide grin resting upon her face.   
  
“How goes it?”  
  
She responds with a tongue in grin look, “You have about five minutes, Gallifrey time, to get your arse into the kitchen. Get dressed and have a smile on your face.” Turning heel, then quickly looking back with a cheeky finger pointing at me she asserts, “Five minutes.” With that she was gone off into the living quarters, leaving me dumbfounded.  
  
Somehow I found myself in the kitchen shortly after, drawn in by the smell radiating from there. Once I saw what awaited me there, I was frozen in my tracks. Fenris was wearing a beautiful crimson sun dress in the typical Gallifreyan fashion, sitting at the table with a meal for two sitting out for us.   
  
“I thought today was kinda special since neither of us have visited our   
home in eras. So, I made us some traditional food. You’ll find Tea, some blue berries fresh from our garden, Dactyl eggs over medium, roasted Grockleroots, and some Karmine pudding.” She pointed each item out while she explained everything.   
  
“Doctor? Are you alright?”  
  
I looked up and into her eyes, and noticed her genuine concern. She reached up and wiped away my tears with her thumbs.  
  
“Thank you. I know I say that a lot, but you do so much for me.”  
  
With this, she smiled sweetly at me. “You’re welcome.”  
  
Then began our little feast.  
  
~oOo~  
  
“Doctor..”  
  
He looked up at me while putting away the newly washed dishes we ate from. “I want to go to the river. Will you join me?” He put on a sweet smile.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
After we were finished with the cleaning, we left chatting and giggling. Once we reached the river, we couldn’t help but stand nearly paralyzed at the pure beauty of it. The orange sky was reflecting off of the silver leaves on the trees surrounding the river, making them look like they were on fire.  
  
I took off my shoes, and grinned at the Doctor, then ran into the water.  
  
“You’re going to get muddy,” he scolded me.  
  
“Come now Doctor, aren’t we too old to worry about a little mud?” I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into the water.  
  
“You splashed me!”   
  
“Oops sorry,” I said with a tongue in teeth grin, before sending a small wave unto him.  
  
“Stop it,” he said before sending a wave back at me.  
  
“Oh it’s on,” I tackled him and pushed him under the water, and he did the same to me. I noticed that every time he splashed me, or playfully pushed me, he would surreptitiously try to prolong touching me. It was like he was longing for that contact. I tackled him, and we landed on the shore sopping wet with me over him. He reached up and cupped my cheek with his hand.   
  
“I feel like I’ve known you all of my life, like I could tell you any secret..Fenris...and I just met you a few weeks ago.”  
  
“Doctor, you can tell me anything,” I said while smoothing sand out of his grey hair. “I’ve been here for you for thousands of years...and I will stay. You are not alone.”  
  
“I have often felt that I am..but then I see all of those people who are there for me, and I know I can count on them. I’m not sure how I should feel about you though.”  
  
“And it isn’t like you can whisper to yourself in Gallifreyan anymore..like you do with everyone else.”  
  
“No point in hiding anything from you either.”  
  
“No..there isn’t. And I do believe that we are too old to play games.”  
  
“Agreed,” he whispered as he pulled me in for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to comment! I love hearing from my readers!


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